


The Other Side of the Wall

by Lucespes



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, lots and lots of cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-01-05 11:23:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18365024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucespes/pseuds/Lucespes
Summary: Gaku's an emotionally stunted moron but luckily Ryuu is there to pick up the pieces.





	1. Unexpected Neighbor

The only good thing that came with the end of summer and the return of school was the fact that it meant that autumn had finally arrived. Ryuunosuke had loved autumn since he was a child, loved the beautiful leaves, the cozy rainy days, the warm drinks and comfy clothes. His love for autumn was so great that not even having to go back to school could get him down. With school came early mornings, but Ryuu had always preferred rising early to staying up late, so it wasn’t that much of a change from his regular routine.

Now, instead of going on an early morning run through his neighborhood followed by relaxing in his apartment, Ryuu ran through the neighborhood, grabbed coffee on his way home, and then returned to his apartment to get ready for his early morning classes. Running first thing in the morning always helped him wake up, and the reward of promised coffee as the light at the end of the tunnel certainly cheered him on.

The morning when Ryuu woke up before his alarm went off was no different.

It started with the sound of chirping echoing through his open window, rousing him from a deep sleep that had included a dream about his third period test that was scheduled for later that week. His golden eyes peeled open, intense in their color but exhausted in their gaze. Just because Ryuunosuke liked getting up early didn’t always mean that it was an easy feat. When he blearily checked the time on the lock screen of his phone, he groaned as the numbers 4:17 seared into his unexpecting retinas.

It was early enough that he could have gone back to bed, and looking back, Ryuu wasn’t quite sure exactly why he didn’t, but he ended up pushing himself out of bed, clad in only a pair of black boxers, and he got dressed in his running clothes. He washed his face, waking himself up slightly, and then he grabbed a water bottle before heading out the door. He wasn’t too concerned with fixing his bedhead or rubbing the sleep from his eyes; that all came later when he showered after he got back from his run.

He didn’t really see the point in getting his hair to look nice when it was just going to get plastered to his forehead with sweat in an hour’s time anyways.

He locked his door behind him, humming a song that he had heard on the radio earlier in the week, and as he turned to head for the stairs, he bumped into someone, stumbling back a few steps in surprise. Ryuu was usually taller than most of the people that he came across, but this person wasn’t much shorter than him, so he didn’t have to look down very far to meet the eyes of the person he had run into.

The man’s eyes were sharp and jarring, and Ryuu felt his own eyes widen in surprise at the man’s intense stare. He had light hair that framed his face nicely, accentuating the sharp edges of his features, and his skin was extremely pale. Ryuu smiled apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck.

“My bad!” he chirped, laughing weakly. “Are you alright?”

The pale man huffed, his eyebrows furrowing as he dropped his gaze to intently study the floor. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” he said, his voice much deeper than Ryuu was expecting.

Ryuu tried not to worry about why he wasn’t meeting his eyes. _Maybe he’s just shy,_ the voice in his head supplied helpfully, and Ryuu brushed his concern off. Instead, he thrust his hand forward, his eyes crinkling as his smile grew. “You must be my new neighbor. I had heard you moving in last week, but I was so busy with school that I hadn’t had a chance to drop by and say hello. My name’s Tsunashi Ryuunosuke. It’s nice to meet you.”

In one look, Ryuu realized that his new neighbor was anything but a morning person. He didn’t necessarily look angry or mean, but he certainly looked like the only thing he cared about at that moment was crawling into bed and sleeping for most of the day. If Ryuu had to guess, he would have said that the man hadn’t gotten any sleep at all that night, and he felt a pang of guilt in his chest as he realized that his small talk was probably the only thing standing between the man and his bed.

“Yaotome Gaku,” he said, his voice gruff with exhaustion. He shook Ryuu’s hand politely, quickly. “Just call me Gaku, though. Being called Yaotome reminds me too much of my old man.”

Ryuu could tell that there was a lot to unpack in Gaku’s words, but he decided against commenting, simply nodding as if he understood (which he most certainly didn’t). “I usually bake cookies for new neighbors,” he admitted, chuckling sheepishly. “As an ice breaker and all. I know we’ve technically already been introduced, but would you mind if I brought you a plate over some time later this week?”

Gaku’s eyes widened in surprise, and his surprise in turn surprised Ryuu. Was the concept of having a hospitable neighbor really such a foreign idea to him? “Uh… sure. How does day after tomorrow work?” he asked, still having a hard time meeting Ryuu’s eyes.

His eyebrows furrowed as he thought ahead and checked his mental calendar. “Yeah, that works fine. I have class in the morning, so does some time in the afternoon work?”

“Yeah,” Gaku replied with a shrug. “Afternoons are usually best for me. I… don’t do mornings well.”

Ryuu just nodded, not wanting to be insulting by mentioning that that much was obvious, and he moved around Gaku to head for the staircase. “Alright. I look forward to it! Oh, and Gaku?” he said, causing him to turn around in the middle of opening his front door.

He raised an eyebrow curiously. “Yeah?”

“Call me Ryuu,” he said cheerfully, and with that, he headed down the stairs and out onto the street below.

☆彡☆彡☆彡

The day went by quicker than Ryuu normally would have liked, but as he sank onto his couch, the sun slipping below the horizon outside his window, he found that he didn’t mind all that much that his day had been somewhat of a whirlwind. Mostly because he knew that he was one day closer to seeing Gaku again, and for some reason the thought sent butterflies alight in his stomach. He laid back, closing his eyes and letting himself melt into the cushions. It felt nice to come home after a long day full of classes and work to a comfy couch and a quiet apartment.

Until suddenly Ryuu found that “quiet” couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Ryuu hadn’t realized that he had dozed off until he was awoken by a loud thump coming from the wall behind him. It scared him so badly that he fell from the couch, his eyes wide in fear before he realized that the noise had come from behind him and that there was no imminent threat. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the wall, waiting for it to make another noise.

When the next noise came, Ryuu had been expecting anything other than the sound of a broken sob.

His eyes went wide. He hadn’t slept in his living room since Gaku had moved in, so he wasn’t sure if what he was hearing was a normal thing for him, or if something was wrong.

 _What am I thinking? Of course something’s wrong!_ he thought, reprimanding himself. _It doesn’t matter if it’s a normal thing. In fact, if it is normal, that’s worse!_

He pushed himself to his feet, his teeth worrying his lip as he tried to figure what to do. On one hand, he could go over and try to see what was wrong and offer help. On the other hand, he had only met Gaku earlier that day, and he worried that doing so would overstep the frail boundaries of their acquaintanceship.

In the end, he decided that heading to his room and not eavesdropping on Gaku was the best decision. He did, however, promise himself that if he heard anything like it again that he would bring it up when he saw Gaku later that week.

He owed it to Gaku to at least offer help if something was truly troubling him.

After he had laid down, it was hardly a surprise that he was too troubled to sleep. His mind was racing a million miles an hour trying to explain the noise that he had heard, but it was working even harder to try and think of a possible way to help.

When he finally managed to drift off, his sleep was restless and full of anxious dreams about Gaku being in peril but being just out of Ryuu’s reach. He couldn’t save him.

☆彡☆彡☆彡

Ryuu didn’t see or hear from Gaku again the next day or the morning of the day that he was scheduled to take cookies over, which did nothing to help the worried feeling in the pit of his stomach. In fact, he was so distracted by his emotions and the distracting thoughts running through his mind that he burned two different batches of cookies before he finally was able to focus enough to be successful on the third try.

His heart had never thumped so hard as when he stood in front of Gaku’s front door, his hand hovering there in a fist. He needed to knock. But… For some reason he was scared of what would he would be met with in return.

The worst-case scenario, Ryuu had decided, was that something terrible had happened to Gaku and he wasn’t home at all. He had mostly pushed the possibility aside, but it still lingered just enough to make him worry.

Another possibility was that something had happened and it would be apparent in Gaku’s appearance, whether it be bags under his eyes or unkempt hair, something that made Gaku’s stress apparent.

The third option that Ryuu had come up with was the idea that Gaku would be perfectly normal, that he would open the door and look as though nothing had happened, pretending like he was fine so that Ryuu didn’t worry about him.

Though the first option was definitely the worst, something about the third option made his blood run cold.

Finally, he knocked on the door, deciding that he had been standing there for much too long, and it didn’t take long before he heard the sound of footsteps approaching on the other side of the door. The door swung open, and Ryuu’s heart sank when he was met with a smiling Gaku who looked the exact same as when they had met two days prior.

“Ryuu,” he greeted, stepping aside to let him in. “It’s really nice to see you.” He led him to the kitchen, where Ryuu put down the tray of cookies, and he looked up at him with a curious look in his eyes. “Is something wrong? You look sad.”

He straightened for a moment as though he’d been shocked, but then he slowly sat on one of the barstools, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. If Gaku noticed that something was wrong, then there wasn’t much sense in pretending that he was okay, but at the same time, he hadn’t really wanted to bring it up in fear of Gaku getting defensive or even angry.

Still, it seemed that he didn’t have as good of a poker face as he would have liked. “I… I’m worried about you,” he said bluntly, forcing himself to look up into Gaku’s blazing silver gaze. He was unsurprised to see a moment where shock riddled his features, and he was even less surprised when Gaku quickly schooled his features into an impassive stare.

“Worried? Why?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. _Great,_ Ryuu thought. _He’s defensive._

He shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “Well, the other night I heard you through the wall connecting our apartment… and you seemed upset.”

If he hadn’t been so riddled with worry, he might have been impressed at how Gaku’s pale skin somehow lost even more color at Ryuu’s declaration. But, instead of getting even more combative, Gaku’s shoulders sagged, and he looked anywhere but at Ryuu.

“I, uh… It’s a long story. But my… my grandfather passed away recently, and it, uh, it’s really been messing with me,” he admitted, his deep voice quiet. Ryuu swallowed thickly when he realized that it was more than a little likely that Gaku was embarrassed.

Ryuu stood, knowing better than to hug Gaku (seeing as they really didn’t know each other yet). He had a feeling that Gaku had been dealing with his grief alone, and the thought lit a fire inside of him. “When my grandfather died, I was pretty young. I don’t really remember much of it, but I do remember the sadness in my dad’s eyes in the months following his passing,” he said, and he saw Gaku frown in confusion. “M-My point is, I know that losing someone is hard, and if you were close with him, I bet you’re going through a really hard time right now. I just… I want you to know that I’m here. You can count on me, okay? We’re friends now, so whenever you need a distraction, I’ll be here.”

By the time that Ryuu had finished his declaration, Gaku was staring at him with wide eyes, and his honest reaction made Ryuu’s cheeks burn a little. He hadn’t thought that offering to be Gaku’s shoulder to cry on would have affected him _that_ much…

“Do you…” Gaku began after a long bout of silence. “Do you maybe want to stay for the evening? I can make us dinner and we could watch a movie or something…”

Ryuu grinned brightly, so happy that his eyes crinkled.

“Yes please!”


	2. A Do-Over

“It’s not much,” came Gaku’s deep voice from the living room, “but it’s enough. Gives me something to come home to, I guess.”

As he made his way from the kitchen into the living room, Ryuu smiled to himself as he realized that Gaku’s apartment looked exactly how he had expected it to. Everything was in tones of grey, even the wall art. Yet, though some people might have described as dull or bleak, Ryuu found himself thinking that it looked cozy and unique.

He sat down on the couch facing the television, watching as Gaku milled about, picking up random things from the table and floow, and Ryuu bit back a fond smile.

“You don’t have to clean for me,” he said. “Really.”

Gaku frowned, but he didn’t argue, straightening and nodding once. “Right. Um… Can I get you something to drink? I’m… I’m thinking maybe instead of waiting while I cook something we can just order in.”

“That sounds like a good idea. And yeah. Anything you have is fine with me.”

He watched Gaku head into the kitchen, biting his lip. He wondered if Gaku had invited him for dinner and a movie to immediately take him up on his offer of distracting him. He frowned at the thought. If that was the case, he hoped that Gaku wasn’t repressing anything in order to be a “good host” or anything of the like.

When Gaku came back holding a couple beers, Ryuu pushed his worries to the back of his mind. Even if Gaku was trying not to think about his grandfather, who was Ryuu to do anything but help him get his mind off of it?

“Here,” Gaku hummed, handing Ryuu a beer. “There’s more in the fridge, so just help yourself if you want any more. You do live next door, so at least we don’t have to worry about you staying overnight if you get too drunk.”

Ryuu’s eyes widened. “Well… I don’t know if I’ll get drunk. I’ve… I’ve been told a few times that I’m quite a handful, so…” He felt his ears grow hot with a blush, so he occupied himself with his beer, too embarrassed to hold Gaku’s gaze.

“What should he order?” Gaku said, and Ryuu glanced over to see him scrolling on his phone. “I was thinking soba, but I don’t know if you like that.”

He nodded, moving a little closer so that he could look at the menu on Gaku’s phone. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll let you order for me since you probably know the menu better than I do.”

Gaku shrugged, lifting the phone to his ear to order. It was almost hypnotizing watching his lips move as he spoke, his deep timbre lulling Ryuu into its rhythm. If he wasn’t careful, he could see himself falling for Gaku.

He sat up straight at the thought, catching both himself and Gaku off guard. Gaku gave him a suspicious side-eye which Ryuu quickly waved off, and he stood and hurried to the bathroom, his face a vibrant crimson. He practically slammed the door shut behind him, and he leaned over the sink, staring at himself in the mirror.

 _What the hell am I thinking?!_ he thought frantically, turning the water on as cold as it would go and splashing himself in the face a few times. Gaku was his neighbor, not some potential date. And they had just met. Ryuu shook his head, distraught. He was not the type to date people he had just met.

He was drying off his face when a knock sounded from the door.

“Ryuu? Are you okay?”

He felt a stab of guilt in his chest for making Gaku worry about him over something as stupid as him getting scared about his subconscious thoughts. “I’m fine! Sorry!” he called, and he opened the door and was met with Gaku looking at him with worry filling his gaze.

“Are you sure? You really bolted out of there. Are you feeling sick?” he asked, looking Ryuu over.

He waved him off, stepping out of the bathroom and heading back to the living room, Gaku following close behind. “I just didn’t realize I had to use the bathroom so badly. Sorry for worrying you,” he said. In his head, all he could think about was how lame he sounded.

Gaku seemed skeptic, but he thankfully dropped it, sitting back down on the couch. “Well, I got our food ordered. It should be here within the hour,” he said, grabbing the remote as Ryuu sat down next to him. “What kind of movie do you want to watch?”

“I like comedies,” he admitted. “But I’m good to watch whatever you want. I like most types of movies… except horror…”

Gaku chuckled, standing to put a movie in the player. “That doesn’t surprise me at all. You seem too sweet and nice to like horror movies,” he said, looking back at him with a teasing grin.

Ryuu laughed weakly, trying not to get too caught up Gaku calling him sweet. “I guess. I’m just a scaredy-cat.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.”

He watched Gaku as he sat back down, his eyes caught on the way that his Adam’s apple bobbed as he took a long drink of his beer. Gaku was effortlessly beautiful, from the way his eyes shone to the perfect styling of his hair to his lithe frame. Ryuu was enchanted by him, feeling almost as if he were under a spell.

The movie began and Ryuu’s attention was diverted (which he was silently thankful for; he didn’t want to be caught staring at Gaku because he couldn’t control himself) and they fell into a companionable silence.

Ryuu let his mind wander as he watched the actors on the screen, only feeling a little guilty for not paying attention to what was actually going on.

He just couldn’t help it around Gaku, apparently.

He wondered if Gaku would consider them friends after this. He certainly would, but then again, he was a rather friendly person in general, so he didn’t know if his own feelings were the status quo for situations like the one they were in. He also wondered if he would be invited back, and he smiled a little at the thought of having weekly movie nights with Gaku. It almost seemed like a dream.

Eventually his eyes drifted back over to Gaku, and he watched as he cracked open another beer (when had he gotten up and grabbed that?) and began to drink it quickly. The sight made Ryuu’s lips tug downwards in a frown. It almost felt like Gaku was drinking to hide his emotions regarding his grandfather. If it was Ryuu that had lost someone so close, he knew that he would have done the same.

Still, something kept him from commenting. Maybe it was out of fear of ruining their budding potential friendship, or maybe it was out of respect for Gaku and his ability to make his own decisions. Ryuu found that he didn’t really mind the concept of Gaku getting drunk, anyways.

It would be an interesting sight at the very least.

About halfway into the movie, the buzzer at the door rang, and Ryuu shot up in alarm at the sound before sinking back down in relief when he realized where the sound had come from. Gaku was on it immediately, leaving Ryuu the opportunity to see how many beers Gaku had had.

He counted five cans. He hummed, doing the math in his head. Gaku was likely to be tipsy.

Before he could really consider what that meant for their plans that night, Gaku walked back in, his arms full of food. “That guy was really nice,” he hummed, and he smiled as he sat down. Ryuu was caught off guard by how beautiful he was, and he gawked at him until Gaku cleared his throat nervously. “Are you gonna take your food or…?”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, biting his lip as he took his food. He quickly busied himself, only looking up at the sound of a can hissing as Gaku cracked another one open. He glanced over, meeting Gaku’s eyes. “Are you… doing okay?” he managed, hoping he didn’t sound rude.

Gaku simply chuckled, shrugging. “I mean, not really. I’m glad you’re here, though. You’re a welcome distraction.” He paused, thinking something over. “You’re okay if I get a little drunk, right? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…”

Ryuu waved him off. “Of course not. It’s your apartment. Do whatever you’d like,” he told him.

He smiled softly, turning away from Ryuu. “Thanks…” he hummed, turning back to watch the movie as he ate and drank.

The two of them ate their meals and tossed their empty containers onto the coffee table when they were finished, Gaku finishing six more beers. He was starting to sway, and Ryuu watched with an amused smile as Gaku laid his head on Ryuu’s shoulder, tipping like a fallen tree. Ryuu swallowed hard, fighting back a blush as Gaku began to nuzzle against him.

“Ryuu…” he mumbled, his voice a little slurred. “I’m really lucky I met you…”

He glanced down at him, wondering how bad it would be if he ran his fingers through Gaku’s silver hair. It looked so soft, so inviting.

“I’m glad I met you, too, Gaku,” he replied after deciding it was probably better if he kept his hands to himself.

Silence filled the room between the two of them as the credits finished rolling, but neither of them made a move to put in another movie. Honestly, Ryuu never wanted to move, never wanted Gaku to move. The weight of Gaku’s head on his shoulder made his heartbeat flutter, but in all the right ways. He wondered if there was something wrong with him.

“You’re so attractive… I feel like you’re right out of a movie,” he said, pursing his lips in a pout.

Ryuu felt his face heat up. “A-Attractive?” he managed out.

Gaku nodded, lifting his head to look up at Ryuu. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes were unfocused, and it was one of the most adorable sights that Ryuu had ever seen. “Mhmm… you’re beautiful.”

His face heated up even more, and he felt the tips of his ears go red.

“I don’t know about th-”

His sentence was cut short by the sudden feeling of lips pressed against his, and Ryuu stared with wide eyes at Gaku, who was kissing him sweetly. Gaku had his hand on Ryuu’s thigh, and his eyes were closed, and Ryuu felt a stabbing sensation when he slowly pulled back and saw the confusion in Gaku’s eyes when they shot open as soon as their lips separated.

“Ryuu?” He frowned, his eyebrows knit in confusion.

He looked down at his hands, chewing on his lip nervously. He didn’t want to make Gaku feel bad. “I’m sorry… I just… You’re drunk… and I’m worried that you’re doing something you’ll regret,” he said, his voice shaky. He cursed himself. He felt pathetic. “I… I should go…”

He stood up, causing Gaku’s hand to fall from his leg, and he didn’t look back, avoiding those silver eyes that he knew would be full of pain. He shook his head, hurrying back to his apartment before Gaku could call out to him and wedge the pain in his heart even deeper, reprimanding himself for not expecting something like that to happen.

 _He’s drunk. You did the right thing. If you had kissed him back, it would have been taking advantage of him…_ he repeated to himself, making his way to his bedroom and face-planting onto his pillow. _He’ll be thankful in the morning. He’s just hurt right now because he’s drunk. You did the right thing._

He moved his pillow to cover his head, falling asleep to dreams of Gaku’s lips and his beautiful eyes. 

☆彡☆彡☆彡

The birds chirping outside of his window were going to be the death of him.

He rolled out from underneath his pillow, slightly surprised to see himself still in his clothes from the night before, but he remembered how his night had ended and he decided to let it slide. He headed to his bathroom, changing into comfier clothes on his way. He luckily didn’t have any classes, so he was free to wallow in his apartment for the entire day.

The face that looked back at him in the mirror was anything but rested. He had bags under his eyes thanks to the restless night he had had, and his hair was tousled from all of his tossing and turning. He let out a long sigh, and he washed his face and brushed his teeth, deciding that he needed to at least try to clean himself up despite how he felt.

He grabbed his phone from his nightstand and moved to the kitchen, stopping in his tracks as he unlocked his phone to find eight missed calls and thirteen texts.

All of them were from Gaku.

The texts were undecipherable, and Ryuu gave up trying to read them after about five minutes of struggling. Gaku hadn’t left any voicemails, so he couldn’t do much with the missed calls, either, so he let out a sigh and deleted the notifications.

Gaku may have been upset last night, but Ryuu was sure that he would be thankful when he woke up.

He had to be.

Ryuu made himself breakfast after seeing that it was only about nine in the morning, playing music on his phone to distract him from the heavy silence that blanketed his apartment. If it was silent, he was going to overthink, and that was the last thing that Ryuu wanted to happen.

He lost himself in the rhythm of his day, not noticing how much time had passed, when suddenly a knock sounded from his front door.

His stomach dropped, and he turned to stare at the door. There was only one person it could be.

He swallowed hard, pushing down his anxiety and moving to open the door, not surprised when it opened to reveal Gaku standing there. He looked, to put it kindly, like hell. His eyebags were worse than Ryuu’s, and he looked like he was trying his best to just stay awake. Ryuu wondered distantly if he had gotten any sleep at all.

“Ryuu,” Gaku said, his eyes widening. “You… You actually answered the door…”

He nodded slowly, forcing himself to meet Gaku’s eyes. “Yeah. I, uh… I didn’t answer your calls because I was asleep, so… I-I’m not mad at you…”

He watched as the tension disappeared from Gaku’s shoulders, and he let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God,” he said, a small smile appearing on his lips. “I was sure that you were angry with me for kissing you out of nowhere like I did…”

Ryuu shook his head, watching him carefully. He wasn’t really sure what to do. He’d never been drunkenly kissed before.

Gaku dropped his gaze, shuffling on his feet nervously. “I… I was wondering…” he began, and Ryuu’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “if, uh… if I could have a do-over.” 

The words echoed in Ryuu’s head, and he stared at Gaku in pure shock. “Do-over?” he repeated, watching as Gaku’s cheeks tinted pink. “What does that mean?”

“Well… It means I want to go on a real date,” he mumbled. “And kiss you when I’m sober… And be kissed back by you.”

Ryuu stared down at Gaku for a moment before a smile broke out across his face. “It’s a date,” he hummed, leaning down and pecking Gaku on the cheek in a chaste kiss. “Would you like to come in and figure out what to do?”

Gaku stared up at him, his hand coming up to touch where Ryuu had kissed him. “Y-Yeah… Yeah, I’d like that a lot.”

He stepped to the side to let Gaku into his apartment, and as he shut the door, he smiled to himself.

Who knew that do-overs could be so promising?

**Author's Note:**

> twitter || twitter.com/tsvnashii


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